LOTUS blog

All aboard the Straight Talk Express! 

9 :10 p.m. After they’re done asking the candidates about whether we’re headed for a recession, let’s ask Greenspan about shaking hands and kissing babies.

IOTUS adds to the Debate Drinking Game this rule: Drink when an issue group is mentioned, i.e. Club for Growth.

9:16 p.m.  Oh yeah, Fred Thompson is still in it.  He just stood up for Giuliani.  Take that McCain lovers!  I’m not necessarily a Thompson supporter, but I do admire anyone that doesn’t want to run for president. 

LOTUS Drinking Game Rule: Finish your drink when Reagan is mentioned.

9:18 p.m. Carl Cameron reminds us that no Republican has ever won the nomination without winning South Carolina.  Cameron asks Huckabee about the Reagan Coaltion and whether he’s distanced himself from it.  It sounds like Huckabee just gave the working definition for “compassionate conservatism.”

9:25 p.m. Romney: Knowing how America works is more important than knowing how Washington works.

9:26 p.m. Thompson puts the smack-down on Huckabee.  Hot!  Thompson says: That’s not the model of the Reagan revolution. That’s the model of the Democrat party.

It’s possible that Thompson is strong enough a candidate to wake up a dead campaign with one answer.

9:29 p.m. Giuliani says the Reagan revolution was about being inclusive. Tear down this wall and give me a hug!

Here come the foreign policy questions.  McCain is getting antsy.

9:43 p.m. Romney accuses Paul of reading Ahmadinejad’s press releases.  Cheers and Jeers.  Paul appears to make some response and I’d love to know what it was.

9:45 p.m.  McCain defends the surge.  “Bringing the troops home is not going to be decided by any politician.  It’s going to be decided by the man that should have been Time magazine’s Man of the Year, General David Petraeus.”  McCain also claims to be the only one on the stage to support the surge.  Giuliani calls him on it and says many of the people on the stage supported the surge.  McCain counterpoint: Nuh uhhh!

LOTUS wonders how PJB would answer some of these questions.  Time for the IOTUS and LOTUS’s texting comedy pyramid!

IOTUS: What would Patrick J. Buchanan Do?

LOTUS: PJB is my homeboy.

IOTUS: PJB is my copilot.

LOTUS: PJB loves me this I know, ’cause the Bible tells me so.

IOTUS: What a friend we have in PJB. He walks with me. He talks with me and tells me I am his own.

LOTUS: When you saw only one set of footprints in the sand it is when PJB carried you.

IOTUS concedes, LOTUS wins.

10:15 p.m. Oh, these guys are still talking. Giuliani just listed his foreign policy credentials.  McCain answers: I did it not for profit, for patriotism.

Giuliani did it all for the nookie.  (That could be the wine talking.)

Lightening Round!

10:25 p.m.  McCain says his immigration bill failed because it was so awesome that the American people were afraid that it wouldn’t be enforced.  McCain recalls a serviceman’s wife who was in endangered of being deported.  Uh, if they’re married, why is she in danger of being deported?  I’ve heard McCain bring this up before.  This is akin to the pro-abortion people that talk about the 11-year-old girl who was raped by her father and then became pregnant. What about her?!?!?!?  Ugh…

It’s over.  I think the edge goes to Fred Thompson.  What are your thoughts?

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This has been long overdue.  As JOTUS said, “He’s old, but he’s still got it.”  JOTUS also said he wants more pictures of cheerleaders.  Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre is the cute football player of the week.

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I thought I’d switch it up and give the ladies pictures of the NFL’s cutest coach.  I give you Tampa Bay Bucs coach John (Chucky) Gruden.  I don’t care what the feminists say — angry white men are the sexiest.

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This week’s cute football player of the week is the Denver Broncos’ John Lynch.  I, however, prefer him in the Tampa Bay uniform.

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This week’s cute football player is Oakland Raiders safety Jarrod Cooper.

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This week’s cute football player of the week is Tamp Bay Bucs LB Barrett Ruud.

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After last week’s loss to the New England Patriots, I have to show Indianapolis Colt’s QB Peyton Manning some love. 

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This week’s cute football player of the week is Houston Texans WR Kevin Walters.  Thanks to Karen calling my attention to him!  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find many close-ups.

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This week’s cute football player is San Diego Chargers’ Igor Olshansky.  I’m giving San Diego and Halloween a shout-out.  Could he be more perfect?

UPDATE 10-22-07: Here are some thoughts from AOTUS, my exclusive debate mole!

McCain won the weekend. He is the toast of the town. Since I don’t like any of the top tier candidates, I think I’ll put myself behind him for having the most character.

Could you hear the Ron Paul boos on TV? So tacky. We got lectured beforehand on appropriate reactions, and were specifically told not to do that. Notice us Paul-ers never booed y’all when talking about who could nuke Iran 1st.

And the Citgo commercial wtf?

8:31 p.m. Shout out from Tancredo!  Thanks, paisan!

8:40 p.m. There’s nothing more comforting than the warm, orange glow of Florida Governor Charlie Crist.

8:42 p.m. Giuliani seems to really understand the issue of school choice as an important civil rights issue.  Perhaps this will be the “choice” issue to win over the social conservatives. 

8:46 p.m. Chris Wallance reminds the Republican candidates that all of them are losing to Senator Clinton in the polls.  After Giuliani’s great answer on school choice, that’s a real downer.

8:48 p.m. I’m so glad they’re expanding beyond the national security questions. 

8:50 p.m. Giuliani to Clinton: “American can’t afford you!”  Awww… Giuliani blows a kiss to my home state of Florida for their help in the 2000 election.

8:51 p.m. McCain: “I would much rather lose an election than lose a war.”  Jokes that he wasn’t at Woodstock “because I was tied up at the time.”  Standing O. 

8:54 p.m. See Huckabee Be Serious: “There’s nothing funny about Hillary being president.”

8:55 p.m. Question for Fred Thompson.  I literally forgot that he was even there.  It looks like he’s reading from a speech.

9:04 p.m. Apparently, Romney was at the Olympics and reformed their Medicare coverage or something.  Republicans are AWFUL on talking about the entitlements issues.  Americans aren’t scared of principled answers.  It’s ok to admit that benefits and programs should be cut because it’s not the federal government’s job to provide them cradle to grave.  (PS — I’m not a Paultard!)

9:10 p.m.  I think Reps. Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo stopped dying their hair.  I don’t remember them being so gray.  Hot.

Oooooh… here come’s the lightening and wild card round!  No whammy! No whammy!

9:17 p.m. Uh, this doesn’t seem to be the lightening round just yet.  For a couple minutes, white chicken chili rather than white men will have my attention.

9:27 p.m. I wonder how far Rep. Ron Paul could get if he stopped talking about foreign policy and the U.S. “prancing around the world.”  He’s the crazy old man yelling at the clouds.

9:30 p.m. Finally, Fred Thompson reminds everyone of his creepiness.  He says the most important reason that he’s not lazy is that he has two kids under 4-years-old.

Speaking of creepy… here comes Frank Luntz!  His focus group sure has Hillary’s number.  They all scored the Republican candidates the highest when they attacked Hillary.

Alright, so who was the winner?  The focus group doesn’t have a consensus, but seem to lean toward Giulani.  I think I agree.  I noticed that whenever he spoke, I stopped what I was doing to listen. 

LOTUS remains undecided on the next POTUS.  I really think that we have a good crop of candidates.  Granted they aren’t all rising to the top, but there’s certainly someone for everyone.